When I first opened the box of Hasegawa 1:48 Kyushu J7W1 Shinden nearly a quarter century ago, my intention back then was to convert it into a jet fighter. The project never took off and so was the next attempt a decade later. Fast forward to present day, this is my third attempt to create one. Only recently then I found out that indeed there was an actual jet version planned in the designing stage, but never materialized because of lack of resources and the war was essentially over during its time. With the release of anime Sky Crawler which featured the lead fighter that drew much of its design inspiration from Shinden. All the sudden the classic bird becomes a popular mecha once again. Hasegawa just released the proposed jet version in 1:48 and Zoukeimura is schedule to release a much bigger 1:32 scale kit soon. All these exciting news have prompted me to try it out one more time. Instead of following the design in OVA and Hasegawa's WW2 classic, I opted to create an original concept jet fighter using the same Shinden airframe, but fully modernized into today's aircraft standard. Name of the new craft is Super Sparhawk.
Oct 10, 2009
New intakes were added to the fuselage, still waiting for the apoxie to harden. Canopy was a heavily modified vacumformed U-2 canopy. Nose section and extended aft section are about 50% done, still needs additional wet sanding to refine the shape.
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I sawed off the stock nose and replaced with a much more pointy counterpart made from the tip section of a giant ball pen.
Sept 27, 2009
Further work done on the cockpit, next step is to install the canopy and mask it for future paint work.
Further work done on the fuselage. The stock canards have been replaced by a much bigger counterparts which was originally the horizontal tail stabilizer of DML 1:72 He162 jet fighter. The machine gun housings were filled up with apoxie. Rear fuselage is also extended to accommodate the larger F-15C exhaust.
Sept 21, 2009
More work done on the cockpit. Ejection seat is an aftermarket resin ACES II. I also added the HUD housing with styrene,
Sept 20, 2009
Main engine nozzle - Basically a 3-piece setup. Exhaust cover and extension are from old Monogram 1:48 F15C, turbine fan is from the wheel of Fujimi 1:24 Subaru concept coupe.
Cockpit - The cockpit well was extended forward to accommodate hew instrument panel. To keep in line with current fast jet cockpit, I scratchbuilt the new 'glass' cockpit instrument panel with junk parts and styrene. More sanding and refining before hitting paint booth.
Sept 19, 2009
First dry fit. Next step is building the cockpit. More updates to follow soon.
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